Many churches, one Easter around SD

A cross on the property of the Gateway Church of the Nazarene stands in the foreground of the sunrise where nearby Pastor Bill Gregory addressed the crowd who were attending the church's Easter Sunrise Service in Murrieta on Sunday.
— Don Boomer / UT San Diego

A cross on the property of the Gateway Church of the Nazarene stands in the foreground of the sunrise where nearby Pastor Bill Gregory addressed the crowd who were attending the church's Easter Sunrise Service in Murrieta on Sunday.
— Don Boomer / UT San Diego

As the first rays of sun brighten the celestial dome early Sunday, all around San Diego and its surrounding communities the Christian faithful will begin to celebrate their holiest day.

Shiny new shoes, fancy Easter outfits, Easter egg hunts and visits from the Easter Bunny (in costume or chocolate form) notwithstanding, Easter remains the most fervently and broadly celebrated day of the Christian faith.

“It’s hard to domesticate or commercialize Easter. To believe that God has the power to raise a dead person, in this case Jesus rising from the dead, that is something we cannot domesticate,” said Wilbert Miller, pastor of First Lutheran Church downtown.

It’s also the one day devout and non-devout Christians come together.

“Easter, Pascha, is truly the feast of feasts. The most important feast day in the church calendar,” said Bratso Krsic, pastor of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in Clairemont.

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Easter is the very reason the Christian religion started. It marks the day Christians believe Jesus came back from the dead after his crucifixion, proving his divinity and making good on a promise that life triumphs over death.

Easter services at San Diego County’s approximately 1,000 churches reflect the diversity of the Christians living here.

Pastor David Fandey of The Fields church scheduled a nondenominational sunrise service at Carlsbad’s Flower Fields, against a backdrop of ranunculus planted in the form of an American flag.

A congregation of 20 Swedenborgians in University Heights have planned a “blossoming of the cross,” where they affix living plants and flowers onto a wooden cross covered with chicken wire as a symbol for new life.

For members of the La Jolla Friends Society, a Quaker group, today is no different from other Sundays. Members believe they have a direct connection with God and that there are no required beliefs or behaviors. “Some do, and some don’t” celebrate Easter, said Roena Oesting, a church member.

But faith extends beyond the walls of the churches, many local religious leaders said. Regardless of the strain or sect, churches view Easter as a chance to ease the suffering of others, and a chance to celebrate new life, resilience and recovery in all its forms.

“There’s this great, ancient line that says that even at the grave, we sing Alleluia. Even at the grave, we don’t believe that’s the final word. That’s the reason we visit hospitals, that’s the reason we do anything with vulnerable, broken people, of which we all are,” Miller said.

In the days before Easter, church leaders and community members washed the feet of the homeless and working poor and hosted soup kitchens and blood drives. Some were special gestures, and some were extensions of ministries they offer year-round.

Catholics celebrating freely

Easter is the biggest day for the region’s tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians, most of whom are living in East County. Bishop Sarhad Jammo planned to welcome more than 10,000 Chaldeans, or Iraqi Christians, to St. Peter’s Chaldean Catholic Church in El Cajon, where they celebrate their religion — and their religious freedom. He’ll hold masses in three languages: English, Chaldean and Arabic.

Easter is a symbol of freedom for Chaldeans on countless levels, Jammo said. Freedom to live in a good, safe neighborhood, freedom to drive on safe roads. Freedom of a stable government, a police that works for and not against the populace, a predictable justice system governed by law and precedent.

“For those who came from a land where bombs and persecution and Muslim fundamentalism and al-Qaeda and (people) declaring Islam, practically, the only religion — absolutely, that is the reason why 50,000 Chaldeans are in San Diego. It is the reason,” he said.

At Easter masses throughout the day, San Diego’s Roman Catholics are praying for their Bishop Cirilo Flores, who is recovering from a stroke. He was scheduled to participate at Holy Week and Easter Sunday services at St. Joseph Cathedral downtown and has been replaced by a deputy.

Rock and Rolling

At The Rock, a megachurch headquartered in Point Loma with satellite locations in East and North County, tens of thousands of worshippers will attend services throughout the day.

Miles McPherson, the church’s founder, explains the stakes of Easter in simple terms: “If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then everything we’re doing is a hoax. It’s not true,” McPherson said. “If someone can produce his body, then we throw the Bible in the trash. For 2,000 years now, they’ve been looking for him and he’s not there.”

McPherson said he expects the vibe Sunday to be down-to-earth and joyful.

“It’s very celebratory,” he said. “They’ll be excited. High energy. Because it’s our Super Bowl, but we already won the game.”

The church’s membership “matches the diversity of San Diego, ethnically. And it’s very informal. Some people have ties, but very few. One percent,” he said.

He plans on wearing jeans and a T-shirt for some services. A suit for others.

While the physical garb is low key, the experience is not. There are 60 moving lights in the main church and a band leading thousands of people in song.

One Easter

The week before Easter, Orthodox Christians attend multiple services, crowned by the resurrection mass on Saturday, usually held at or close to midnight.

In an important part of the service, the church lights are turned off and the priest shares a flame from a holy candle.

“It’s that light that shines forth from the empty tomb,” said Krsic, the Serbian Orthodox priest. Congregants holding candles pass the flame from wick to wick, and in minutes the entire church, the faces of faithful and the mosaic covered walls are all flickering and glowing.

Bathed in this light, the congregation walks outside and circles the church on foot, singing about the resurrection — quite a sight for any neighbors who are unfamiliar with this ritual.

“It is such a beautiful service. Occasionally we do have neighbors that come, and they want to experience the resurrection services with us,” he said.

After the service comes the Easter feast. People head to a friend’s or relative’s home to dig into customary dishes that include lamb, colorfully dyed hard boiled eggs, stuffed grape leaves doused with cool yogurt, fluffy nut breads and wine. After a few hours of feasting, and a few hours of rest, a morning mass follows the night’s celebration.

This year, all Christians are celebrating Easter on the same day. Because of theological differences, on most years Christians from eastern and western rites mark Easter several days or week apart. The last time Easter fell on the same day for all Christians was in 2011. The next will be 2017.

“We rejoice in the fellowship of other Christians,” Krsic said. Regardless of when or how they celebrate, he added, Christians are united in celebrating the triumph of life over death.